AFS Doc Days Screenings to Watch

Next week marks the 5th annual Doc Days film festival hosted by the Austin Film Society. Here’s a first look at what our team of writers can’t wait to see.

UNION

Wednesday, 5/1

The Amazon Labor Union (ALU)—a group of current and former Amazon workers in New York City’s Staten Island—takes on one of the world’s largest and most powerful companies in the fight to unionize.

What better way to celebrate May Day than a galvanizing labor success story and conversation with on-the-ground organizers! – Alix Mammina, HFJ Managing Editor

SEEKING MAVIS BEACON

Friday, 5/3

The most recognizable woman in technology lives in our collective imagination. Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing taught millions globally, but the software’s Haitian-born cover model vanished decades ago. Two DIY detectives search for the model while posing questions about identity and artificial intelligence.

Like many ‘90s kids, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is quite dear to my heart! – Remus Jackson, HFJ editor

TIME PASSAGES

Saturday, 5/4

A filmmaker “time travels” via his family archive as his mother’s health declines from dementia, racing against the clock to resolve his fraught relationship to family and nation when COVID strikes her nursing home.

Personal archives, and the questions of time and embodiment they raise, are a pet interest of mine, and I’m curious to see how they approach the idea of “time travel” as a documentary structure.  – Remus Jackson, HFJ editor

DEVO 

Saturday, May 4

Explore Devo's 50-year career through never-before-seen archival and interviews with co-founders Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh, and Jerry Casale. Born in response to the Kent State massacre, Devo took their concept of "de-evolution" from a cult following to near-rock star status with their groundbreaking 1980 hit "Whip It," all while preaching an urgent social commentary.

For many of us young folks, our first exposure to DEVO likely wasn’t “Whip It”—it was the intro song to Rugrats. I just really want to know how a conceptual art-punk band ends up making both a radio megahit and music for kid’s TV. – Jessica Buie, writer

SUGARCANE

Sunday, 5/5

An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.

Mixing personal connections into investigatory documentaries is no easy task, so I’m interested to see how this handles co-director Julian Brave NoiseCat’s experience as a descendant reckoning with state violence. – Alix Mammina, HFJ Managing Editor

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Sunday, 5/5 

With his gonzo, boundary-shattering comedy, Andy Kaufman provoked, and often outraged, audiences. For those who got the joke, that outrage was the very point; Kaufman’s genius was in making people confront their own presumptions. Now—through never-before-seen archival footage and intimate recollections of friends, colleagues, and family members—filmmaker Alex Braverman excavates the all-too-short life and career of the enigmatic legend whose impact is felt all the more today with the blurring of artifice and reality that defines our present age.

Despite numerous films and docs about him, the mystery of who the real Andy Kaufman still feels unsolved for me. Hoping this one helps uncover a fuller picture of the world’s most renowned anti-comedian. – Jessica Buie, Writer